Forum 7s Future

[Mr. Fahrenheit]

I would like to reiterate Roosterboy's sentiments as my own, almost exactly - i'll be looking to get back into F7s shortly.

 

[Titanic]

That's the spirit ... I'd reckon that there are teams that need you now.

 

[Non Terminator]

Thank you Roosterboy for coming back, it's going to be amazing having you here.
Mr F, there will be clubs chasing you mate!

 

[bartman]

Good post RB.

Just a thought on this current knock-out format... I quite like the smaller games! It's more manageable for thecaptains (and presumably for referees), and also I'd imagine more accessible for the casual reader on the forums.

As an alternative for my earlier idea of pruning F7s down to four well managed mega-squads, perhaps the "size" of the matches could be pruned to 3v3 instead (or 3v4 to preserve the "7" of the title, giving the home team the option to post four articles and use the highest scoring three)?

Making F7s like that could be a way to easily keep more than 4 teams in operation in the future, and also make it easier for smaller new squads of say 5 or 6 new F7s players to enter the comp without it seeming like such a big task (always needing 5 posts each fortnight) or hard slog to start up (and stick with it)?

 

[madunit]

Just a question for those wanting to prune the articles back to 3 per match.

Do you think it sends a message that forum 7's is dying?

I personally think there are a few thinks which are set in stone never to be changed:
*All articles to be Rugby League related/specific
*5 articles per team
*750 word limit

outside of that I think is flexible and subject to change.

 

[Willow]

In it's original form we had to deliver seven articles.

 

[madunit]

I was only a pup back then, I came after the superforumsevensleague war had ended.

 

[Titanic]

For what it's worth, I agree with 'Unit that the main comp must be rugby league / must be 750 words / must be 5v5.

Although there could be some tweaks:

Barts home team extra article has merit ie 5v6 if they wanted

I have previously raised having specialist positions (genres) in teams (maybe in rep) so teams are selected with players being specialists in humour/history/argument, etc.

 

[bartman]

I know it's been 5 for a while, but I'd like to see the "7" come back into it in some way if possible... without making it 7v7 (which I think is unsustainable).

At the moment a reader might wonder why it's not just called Forum 5s, or Forum 8s&7s!

 

[bartman]

Just a question for those wanting to prune the articles back to 3 per match.

Do you think it sends a message that forum 7's is dying?

Just one opinion... it might be the message that is sent, but also the cure needed?

For various reasons I'm not sure we'll have more than 4 teams (the top 4) able to back up with the numbers or captaincy time/energy under the current rules of 5v5. Maybe you could also cobble together a fifth out of survivors of the rest... but trimming the articles to 3 or 4 might let you keep a healthy number/range of teams (eg 6, 7 or maybe even back up to the days of 8 or 9)?

 

[madunit]

What if I pose a concept which I've never before seen proposed before.

Instead of a 10 day turnaround between matches, what if it were 14 days or so?

Would the extra time help get extra articles in?

If so, would that be a better trade off than cutting the number or articles per match? As it stands, we have from Wednesday to Sunday where no articles are being posted. Would it help if current round matches ended at 9pm Sunday, and the next round starts at 9pm Sunday.

That's essentially 5 extra days almost and it won't affect the draw at all.

 

[Willow]

Madunit, are you in Sydney next weekend?

I only ask because I am. Like all day Saturday due to a cheap flight back to GC paradise.

This Friday (25th June)... I land via Deathstar at Mascot. Rexxy, gorilla and I are doing lunch at Beverly Hills (no doubt to talk F7s tactics), then going to the football. Then we're going to some strip club where the patrons have to roll around in mud in front of foreign porn stars. St George Leagues Club... it's a very strange place.

On Saturday, I have no idea what I'm doing but thankfully I do have a late afternoon flight. Tough times.

Very keen to meet up with any Sydney F7s forummers next weekend. PM for mobile phone SMS stuff.

 

[madunit]

Sorry mate, would love to catch up but I'm stuck down here in Melbourne trying to organise the purchase of a house.

 

[Titanic]

Bartman ... I'm all for keeping the numbers up but this year with the Willow Cup and a bye, the bite on players contributions is substantially less than in previous years. I doubt that's the issue rather than just the commitment from the individuals.

I have no history to back up my feeling but I believe that there will be lean years and bumper years with a solid core being the platform that guarantees the competitions longevity.

 

[Willow]

we need to come up with options to get new players into the game

Great idea. May I suggest a committed effort from players to get their articles in before full time?

There were some excellent suggestions in this thread, but at the end of the day the best way to keep the F7s on track is see players showing up as promised.

I appreciate the 'reasons' for players failing to post are numerous and there is bottomless pit when it comes to off-site matters.

Tick a box:

Computer problems
Car broke down
Flood, fire, act of god etc
Illness in the family
Work committments
Half the family ill, and the other half working

And the fringe reasons:

Couldn't think of anything to write
Forgot

The last one is usually the most fair dinkum.